So far I've done two days of 5 mg of dexedrine, once per day, before noon.
It's had a mild effect, if anything. (Though yesterday i think it had a cognitive effect i didn't realize until later - and not in such a great way - hard to explain - will try and edit when i figure a way to explain it)
But overall mild effects
I've slept normally both nights (though normal is not good ..it was 'normal')

Today all morning I'm MUCH more exhausted than normal and also feeling blue and depressed in a way. I'm so internally exhausted I'm confused. This and the down mood...I'm confused.

I have tried dexedrine a couple of times in the past for a day or two but twice a day and it messed up my sleep so this time I'm trying once a day. And the times before my fatigue and mood the next day made sense from lack of sleep. My sleep wasn't messed up this time, but I'm still feeling an unusual form of crappy. ;(.

It *feels* like what is described about withdrawals - albeit a mild form.

Is this even possible?

And i'm delaying taking today's dose - i can't see what good it will do being this tired never mind that I'm feeling that today's state is related to the dexedrine.
Is this good thinking or bad thinking? Should I continue so my body "Gets used to it"? Is taking a day off a mistake?

What are the directions given to you by your doctor? In some cases, amphetamines can affect your mood. All three of my kids have adhd in addition to me and their father and my youngest could never tolerate meds. My middle daughter did ok but after a few months it started to affect her mood so we took her off of it. My son who is 22 and brilliant had no issues and took dex from age 4-age 16 when he decided he didnt want meds anymore. I wish he would consider them again but he is an adult now and I cant make him take meds.
Some people who find amphetamines to be too harsh have better success with something from the methylphenidate class of drugs..(ritalin, concerta, etc).

So far I've done two days of 5 mg of dexedrine, once per day, before noon.
It's had a mild effect, if anything. (Though yesterday i think it had a cognitive effect i didn't realize until later - and not in such a great way - hard to explain - will try and edit when i figure a way to explain it)
But overall mild effects
I've slept normally both nights (though normal is not good ..it was 'normal')

Today all morning I'm MUCH more exhausted than normal and also feeling blue and depressed in a way. I'm so internally exhausted I'm confused. This and the down mood...I'm confused.

I have tried dexedrine a couple of times in the past for a day or two but twice a day and it messed up my sleep so this time I'm trying once a day. And the times before my fatigue and mood the next day made sense from lack of sleep. My sleep wasn't messed up this time, but I'm still feeling an unusual form of crappy. ;(.

It *feels* like what is described about withdrawals - albeit a mild form.

Is this even possible?

And i'm delaying taking today's dose - i can't see what good it will do being this tired never mind that I'm feeling that today's state is related to the dexedrine.
Is this good thinking or bad thinking? Should I continue so my body "Gets used to it"? Is taking a day off a mistake?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Hey JBB, I included a previous post that you may find useful. Also, off the top of my head I always found starting out it was a bit of a roller coaster ride until it settles out. After it settles out for a few days THEN you can evaluate. For me, I make a change and wait 2 weeks before evaluating it and decide whether any more changes are needed. Like you, the Dex also really messes w/ my sleep patterns. First cupla days, sleep less than normal. Then after a cupla days it catches up and you are draggin' *** and fuzzy headed before your normal bedtime and fall asleep. Then you wake up early and have to fight to stay up to your normal bedtime. Anywho, pls feel free to post any new/unanswered questions. GL, -LN

Your body takes time to adjust to starting a new med or changing dosage or changing dosing frequency. During this adjustment period you can't fully evaluate how well/poorly the med is doing for you. You just try to ride it out. You likely will have a euphoric period for a few days initially and then it will go away.(This has nothing to do w/ treating your symptoms. The euphoric period going away is often mistaken for the med wearing off. It isn't wearing off.) You will/may have side-effect that will/may lessen during the adjustment period. How well each of your symptoms are addressed may stay the same during the period, get better, get worse, start worse initially and then get better. The way to approach all of these unknown issues IMVHO is to keep a daily journal and just wait until YOUR adjustment period is over and it "lines-out" for you. Then you can look over your journal and evaluate how well the meds are working FOR YOU. On top of this, the adjustment period can be different for everyone. For me it is ≤2 weeks for most things, but up to 4 weeks for others (sleep disturbances). If it helps, we have all gone through this and it was equally confusing, but only at first.

How long should you wait until you are pretty much done adjusting to the Meds? I donno. Initially that is something you need to talk to your Doc about. Then after you go through it a few times you will find out what works for you. Then talk to your Doc about incorporating into your titration.

When should you discontinue taking the meds and talk to your Doc? This is something you need to get from your Doc and feel comfortable with before starting on a new med. In addition to serious side-effects associated with your new med, your medical history history needs to be taken into account.

How much latitude did your Doc agree to give you with respect to adjusting your dose and/or frequency? You need to stay within these boundaries. If you want to reduce your dose and your Doc didn't explicitly OK it already, you need to talk to your Doc. The same especially goes for increasing your dose. If you want to change your dosage frequency and your Doc didn't explicitly OK it already, you need to talk to your Doc.

Getting back to your explicit questions in your OP...

How long the dose lasts is different for everyone. My experience is that it is somewhat dose dependent but not much. Your dose can be too low and not all of your symptoms are being treated. Your dose can be too high and you experience side-effect and/or some of your symptoms get worse. If you're lucky enough to find an acceptable range with good treatment AND acceptable side-effects the duration will be pretty much the same over that range. For me with Adderall and dexedrine IR it is 2˝ - 3 hours. I believe other's have talked about 4-5 hours. Bottom line is YOU need to find this out by trial and error, keeping good notes, and doing good reviews.

How do you know what the right effect is? You were diagnosed w/ ADHD based on symptoms that you have. You were given meds to treat these symptoms. So write down each of YOUR symptoms. Next to each one, write down specific real-life examples of the symptom causing you problems in the past. Next to that write down specific real-life examples of that symptom, improving, staying the same, or getting worse. For some you may not have examples for, but others you should be aware of at any given moment. For me that is "focus" and working memory. If you keep a daily journal and try to evaluate each one, examples will occur for the others. Be sure to document undesirable side-effects too.

Should you wait for the crash to leave to evaluate? The answer is yes and if you can get your dose right and/or after your body adjusts there won't be a crash. At that point you will be able to evaluate your focus as well as other symptoms for treatment effectiveness. Sorry about the long response. May be too much coffee. Good luck and hope this helps. -LN

My advice is to just stick with it! Just as your doctor suggests you do it.

These meds have to be given in low doses when you first start them...and then slowly increased a little bit at a time till you find a dose that starts to really help.
It's call titrating.

And it can absolutely be a frustrating process. It's like you hear all these great stories and read all these posts online of how amazing these meds are and how they've really changed people's lives.

Then you start taking them...and they're not doing any of that! In fact...they very well may be leaving you worse off then before!
Like what the heck? Why does it work for everyone else but not me?

It took me about 3 months of slow increases before I found a dose that helped. Before that I was getting very few positives from the meds (adderall in my case)...but quite a bit of the (common) negative side effects. I'd come down from them and start feeling grumpy and lethargic and withdrawn. It sucked!

But then it just happened. After a few months she bumped my dose up yet again slightly...and dang! Day and night! I found the dose that helped and it was awesome!
It was worth all those days of frustration to get to that dose, and I'm super glad I never gave up on it.

...
So sorry for the long post...but I HIGHLY suggest to just stick with it! When that right dose comes, I'm sure you'll be super glad to have stuck it out!

I think if you stick with it your body will adjust.
I have recently had my dosage switched at my request. I was in college and found mid afternoon i crashed making it difficult to do homework and studying after arriving home.

I was 30mg in morning. I switched to 20mg in afternoon finally setting on 30mg mornings and 30mg afternoon, it really helped with the exhaust I got in afternoon. I did take time to adjust so I got maybe 2-3 hours sleep for that week but my tolerance is high so I adjusted quickly.

I wouldn’t recommend going on, then off a significant dose because it will severely affect most people’s mood, ambition, social behaviour and other things.

JellyBeanBear: You are taking a tiny baby dose of Dexedrine. I am hardpressed to think if you are feeling anything due to Dexedrine. I think you need to ask your doc to increase your dose significantly. What is your age/weight. That may help others to give you a better opinion.

Nitro061: You are on the opposite side of JellyBeanBear, your dose is sky high. Off course stick with your doc advice. If it were me, I would try to keep 30 mg, if not 40 mg per day max, AND split the dosage into several multiples, say every 2 hrs. At least that has been my personal experience, not an expert here.

Hi there OP. 2x5mg per day is a good starting dose but far from enough for an adult. In my experience this last month with myself trying to find the correct dose with Dexedrine IR I have found that maximum 2,5 hours between dose and 5-10mg (prefer 7.5mg myself) at maximum 4 times a day is a nice perfect setup. If I take TOO LOW dose or longer time between I will actually feel crappy because its to much of an UP - DOWN - UP - DOWN because of my own metabolism.

You can feel safe with trying to experiment a little with your medication but Im not a doctor. But everyone is different so everyone needs different amount and timings. But you can easily experiment with AT MAX 40mg per day without being scared as long as you dont have any pre existing conditions.